2/12/2007 @ 12:01AM

Sex Lives Of The Super-Rich

Ever wonder how your life would change if you suddenly became filthy rich?

Well, for one thing, you’d have a better sex life. That’s the finding of a new report by market research and consulting company Prince & Associates, and private wealth expert Hannah Grove.

The 2006 survey released last month looked at the sexual views, behavior and experiences of just under 600 men and women, most of whom were married, an average age of 57 and with a net worth of $89 million.

The findings showed that the majority, 63% of men and 84% of women, credited their wealth with helping them achieve a better sex life. In addition, 43% of men and 80% of women said they believe their money has let them lead more daring and exciting sex lives. One-third of men and 72% of women are members of the mile-high club, having had sex while in flight; all had access to a private jet. And 54% of men and 72% of women reported having had an extramarital affair.

A Run For Your Money

Grove says the study indicates a sense that money makes people feel more powerful and gives them a better quality of life. This, she says, results in better sex.

“Part of having a better sex life is related to being able to surround yourself with people to help you do things in a professional capacity with assistants, but even at home with nannies and butlers,” she says. “They take some of the stress and less glamorous things off your plate and free you up to do things you find personally fulfilling.”

Patti Britton, a sexologist and author of The Art of Sex Coaching, says the findings aren’t surprising because the respondents extreme wealth means less struggling to feed and house themselves and more downtime and luxuries, such as spa weekends and lavish vacations–the perfect backdrop, some argue, for a robust sex life.

“Maybe money takes away the suffering and dependency on time for making a living and let’s one live a life with pleasure,” says Britton, president of the American Association of Sexuality Educators Counselors and Therapists.

Sex For The Rest Of Us

But if you’re not pulling in the big or even medium bucks, don’t despair. More money doesn’t always equal bedroom fireworks.

Barnaby Barratt, a Santa Barbara-based sex therapist, says people shouldn’t just assume that the wealthy generally have sex lives worthy of envy. Barratt says some studies have shown that people in upper-income brackets, earning more along the lines of $100,000 to $1 million a year, have high-stress professions–think stock brokers, attorneys or physicians. They don’t usually have a lot of time to devote to sex. In fact, that portion of their lives may deteriorate.

“It tends to be a sort of quick engagement, quick sex or wham-bam sex and it’s not as satisfying to people,” Barratt says. “A lot of people in high-powered positions–their sex life dwindles.”